Interview of Florence Bernstein McChesney on her service as a flight nurse in the U.S. Army Air Corps during and after WWII Interviewer: [audio cut off 00:01] histories for the Pittsburgh Unit Women's Overseas Service League. Today, I'm going to interview Florence McChesney, a member of the Pittsburgh Unit since about 1971. Florence is actually my first guest for oral histories, and we are both anticipating an interesting time with it. [00:25] Florence, what branch of the service did you serve? Florence McChesney: I was in the army air corps, and I served for five years. Interviewer: [00:36] And, um, what – where, where were you assigned? What was the nature of your, um, assignment? Florence McChesney: I was working in Mich-, Detroit, Michigan, and I signed up in April of ’43 to go to the air corps. Interviewer: [00:57] Uh-huh. Um, what influenced you to volunteer for the service? Florence McChesney: At that time, we were at war and you heard all these ads requesting nurses to join, and I was influenced, I guess, by that. Interviewer: [01:17] Yes. Did you have any resistance from the family or encouragement? Florence McChesney: My mother really did not want me to go into the service because she thought, you know, I might get killed. Interviewer: Uh-huh. Florence McChesney: Other than that, everybody was happy I was goin’. Interviewer: [01:37] What did you do prior to your, uh, enlistment? Florence McChesney: I worked in Michigan for one year in a TB hospital, Herman Kiefer, and I – that’s why I enlisted, and I did wanna get out of workin’ in TB because it was, you know, it’s a contagious disease, and I thought a year was enough. Interviewer: [01:59] Okay. Now, you mentioned – now, you were in the air force branch. Now, what exactly did you do while you were, you know, on your assignment with the… Florence McChesney: My first assignment was [stuck at Arkansas 02:11]. And there, I worked in the – we had a little air corps hospital. It wasn’t very much because it was a small place. And, um, I worked there for a year, and then I went into training to become a flight nurse. It was very hard to get in to be a flight nurse because that was my main [objection 02:36] when I went in. And it took me a year to get… Interviewer: [02:42] What, what did you have to do? What was the training for flight nurse? What did that, uh, consist of? Florence McChesney: The training was – we had the same training as the men. We learned how to shoot a pistol. We learned how to go under the barbwire fences. We had to do all the things that the men had to do because, uh, they – at that time, they wanted you to be prepared in case you got into enemy territory. Interviewer: [03:11] Did, did they, uh, were most of the flight nurses – were they women or did they have men flight nurses during your experience? Florence McChesney: No, they were all women. Interviewer: [03:24] Now, when you became a flight nurse, what transpired then in your assignment? Florence McChesney: When I became a flight nurse, then I traveled over the United States. We’d go from one place, like we’d go to New York and pick up patients and bring’m to one of the hospitals in the States. And I did that for about six months. And I really enjoyed that because I got to see the United States. I went almost [a week 03:54], uh, place where there was an airfield and we would pick up patients from the different hospitals and transfer’m from one hospital to another. Interviewer: [04:08] Well, where did you get some overseas experience, since the Women’s Overseas Service League is a, is a, um, requires a… Florence McChesney: After doing some work with the United States, then I was assigned to go to the South Pacific. And, uh, we went to Hawaii, and from Hawaii we went – we traveled, we, we traveled to Saipan, Guam, Okinawa, Manila, and all the areas in the South Pacific. Once a month, I made a trip to United States, and we would take the men back to the stat-, in California. And, uh, sometimes you would go on a trip – I have my, uh, I brought down my, uh, records to show you how many – sometimes a flight was 7½ hours. Sometimes it was, uh, thirteen hours. It would depend on where you were goin’. Of course, when you were flyin’, you would always stop off at different, from different little airfields, you know. Mostly in the States, we used the C-47s, but in, uh, overseas, we used the 54s, which was a much bigger plane. Interviewer: [05:34] In, in recounting your, um, your, or else in retrospect for your, of your experience, what would you say were the more memorable things that happened while you were doing this, uh, work? Florence McChesney: Well, one thing, when you were doing flight nursing and you were on your own on a plane, you might have two enlisted men, maybe you might have one aide with ya; you did not have a doctor. And before the flight, you would have to go over all the patients you were pickin’ up and see what kind of medicine they needed and have all their medicine and everything you would need for the flight for them. We always – now, in the South Pacific, when we were flyin’ back home to take them to the States, we would always have five psychiatric patients, and they were strapped down. They had – we had them in full restraints, and it was up to the nurse to decide how to treat them on the plane. You were fully responsible for their whole care. If you had blood transfusions, you had IVs goin’, and sometimes when you were on a flight, you would be busy from the minute you got on the plane until you left because you would have sometimes as many as 40 to 50 patients. Interviewer: [06:51] And you say you were the only nurse on the flight with, uh, two, uh… Florence McChesney: Two attendants. Sometimes only one attendant. It depended on how many patients ya had. Interviewer: [07:04] Well, did you have like critically ill patients too? Did, did your particular flights include the very critically… Florence McChesney: Yeah, you would have, you had people with – they were, uh, with, uh, head injuries, psychiatric patients on every flight back to the States. You always had psychiatric patients. And sometimes – but before we would take a psychiatric patient, we used to, at that time, give’m sodium amytal IV, and they would have an injection before you took them on a plane to keep them quiet most of the time, but many times, some of’m you’d – and they would be in full restraints, so you would have to relieve their hands, relieve their feet from restraints so that they could – you, you’d give’m, uh, some, uh, [extercise 07:51] while they were on the plane. And, uh, you would have – you really were busy because – and then you had to give peop-, patients morphine. We were allowed to carry morphine and codeine, and we had a little spoon that ya had to heat it in at that time. And, uh, then besides that you’d have to give’m their meals, which we had soup and sandwiches or whatever we took on the plane. Everybody would have to be fed. So, what – really time would go very, very fast when you were makin’ a flight. Interviewer: Yeah, it’s apparent. Yeah, with the limited personnel, you really were busy. [08:31] Did, did you have anything unusual happen throughout – whether it was related to patient care or not, but did anything unusual happen during your, um, military experience that you… Florence McChesney: One time, while I was on a flight, that one of the windows blew open to the airplane. And we always carried them, uh, orange vests for – and one of’m fell out the window. I must’ve counted them patients 50 times to make sure none of the patients fell out because that really brings a big draft. And I was… Interviewer: With the suction reaction. Florence McChesney: Yeah, the suction. And, oh, was I scared! I counted’m over and over [laughter]. Interviewer: That would’ve been a, would’ve been a very difficult moment. [09:18] Um, what was the nature of your housing when you were a – of course, obviously when you’re in flight, but outside of your, uh, flight times, what – where did you stay? Florence McChesney: Most of the time, we had apartments. In Hawaii, there was five of us lived in one apartment, might have been three bedrooms, so we’d have to share, you know – Interviewer: [09:38] Was this military housing? Florence McChesney: Military housing, yes. Very nice apartments. We had it very nice. When I was stationed at Guadalcanal, though, we lived in little huts. And I was in Guadalcanal for a whole, uh, year practically. Well, flying back and forth, you know, I– but that was my – where I stayed. And we had, uh, the, uh, natives there used to try to jump over the fence because they always wanted a white woman, and that was – we had a special care for there in Guadalcanal. Interviewer: [10:18] But what about in the United States? What… Florence McChesney: In United States, we always had very, very nice apartments. We lived in very beautiful ha-, we had, usually houses, and they all were subdivided into apartments. Interviewer: [10:33] Now, this housing, was it just strictly for the, uh, female officers or, or did you have, uh, was it housing also which included, uh, you know, male officers? Florence McChesney: No. This was just for the flight nurses because we had – we’d have our own little area. We lived near the commanders or whoever had homes around there, we always had a home too. Only for the flight nurses. Interviewer: [10:59] Now, when you needed medical attention, did you – how, how did – how was that handled, uh, say if the flight nurse became ill or suffered some other sort of sickness? Florence McChesney: Well, wherever we were at, we would just go to the [dispenserary 11:12]. If we needed to be in a hospital, they would put us in a hospital and we were treated the same as the males. Interviewer: [11:19] Did you have – did, uh, many of the flight nurses – were, were they, uh, was the number of nurses – were there many casualties or, or nurses that came down with illness, you know, uh, motion sickness or something of that sort? Florence McChesney: As far as I can recall, there was very little sickness among the nurses. Once in a while, someone would get a case of virus or diarrhea, and –but other than that, there was very little sickness. Interviewer: That’s very good. [11:51] What about your, your uniform? What – can, can you tell us what you started out with and, and if there was any change while you were, you know, after you became a flight nurse? Florence McChesney: When I first went in the service, we wore the blue uniform. It was – we had the skirts and jackets with the white shirt. Then later it changed to olive, and we had to get all new uniforms because [we was out 12:18]. As far as the dress, we had a dress that was beige, but we always had to wear air corps insignia on all uniforms. The same with their hats. We had the little overseas cap, and then we had a big – the regular dress cap like the men wore. Interviewer: [12:41] Did, did you wear the seersuckers at any time since you were, you know, flying out of Sou-, the South Pacific area because they were using seersucker slacks and… Florence McChesney: We had the seersuckers, yeah. In the summertime, we did wear them, and, uh, we mainly didn’t wear them for dress, so they were more for working. Interviewer: For duty. Florence McChesney: Duty, yes. Interviewer: Yes, your duty uniform. [13:06] Can you compare your, your nursing in the service with, with the – your, uh, nursing following, you know, your military, uh, service? Florence McChesney: Well, I think nursing in – being in the air corps was altogether different than in, uh, following because in the air corps, you were the one who was in charge of everything. In fact, when you were flying, if a patient got sick, you could tell the pilot to even go – fly lower. Or if it was too cold and you didn’t wanna take – when I was up in Alaska, one time it was so cold that we couldn’t – on the plane, that I refused to take patients because it was just too cold on the plane to take them. And, uh, so you were really responsible for the patients on the plane, and you could tell the pilot go – you know, little things that you were allowed to tell’m. Like if you had a patient that was very sick, you might tell the pilot, you know, not to fly as high. And another thing was, uh, up in Alaska when you were flying – well, before you would come to the hospital, you’d always have to give, uh, the, uh, pilot a note tellin’ him to tell – call the hospital ahead of time and tell’m how many patients you were bringin’ and have the ambulances there. You would – we would call the hospital from the plane before you landed and you would give the pilot this information. Interviewer: You, you certainly, uh, had, uh, need for considerable more initiative than probably you experienced, I guess, subsequent to your military service, you know, the type because, you know, in hospitals and so forth, you always have the physicians there too. Florence McChesney: Yeah. Like when you wanted to give morphine, you had to – that was on your own. You gave the patient the morphine. Of course, his record says he was allowed to have it, but, uh, when you would be responsible for seeing that they got all their medicines, same way with the IVs on a plane. You always had one or two IVs goin’, and if a patient needed blood, he would get blood on the plane, and you were responsible for seein’ that they got all this. Interviewer: [15:22] As a flight nurse, did, did you, uh, what was your, uh, rank and your pay, do you recall? Florence McChesney: I don’t recall the pay, but I do, uh, I was supposed to – first, when you become a nurse in the Army, at that time, you were a second lieutenant. Then I got to be first lieutenant. Interviewer: [15:40] Was that when you became a flight nurse? Did you get the –? Florence McChesney: Yeah, I was first lieutenant when I became a flight nurse. And then as I was leavin’ it was a regulation that everybody was captain but, you know, they were promoting us automatically, and I was a captain for two days, but I was discharged and they rescinded the order. Interviewer: Oh. [15:59] So, you came out as a first lieutenant? Florence McChesney: As a first lieutenant. Interviewer: So, you really – [16:03] and then when, when did you come out of the service then? When did you terminate your…? Florence McChesney: Well, at first, when I was in the South Pacific, I was in from ’43 to ’46, and I got out of the service for one year. And I deci-, after working at home, I didn’t like it, so I went back in the service from ’47 to ’49. And when I went back in the second time, I told’m the only way I would come back is if I could get back into the flight nursing, and I was very fortunate. They wrote back and says, “We have only one place you can go, and that is to Alaska.” So, I took that Alaska assignment. Interviewer: [16:45] And you were there the, then the – you’re second assi-, you’re second tour of duty was all in Alaska? Florence McChesney: All in Alaska. Interviewer: [16:52] And that went – and where did, where did, how did, I mean, how – what was the nature of that assignment? Where were you taking patients then in Alaska? Florence McChesney: Well, in Alaska we went – I went to Nome, Fairbanks, Adak, which was quite a distance away, and, uh, we were based at Anchorage though. Interviewer: Well, that was very interesting. [17:16] So, you really had two tours of duty? Florence McChesney: Yes, uh-huh. Interviewer: [17:20] Did, did you experience any conflict, uh, about being a, a female officer and being a military person? Florence McChesney: No. That was one thing that was very nice because everybody treated us very well. The men were very glad to see us. They carried our suitcases whenever we were on a flight, and they did a lot of little things for us that – I was surprised, but they did a lot of – they were gentleman. Interviewer: Yeah, personal services. Florence McChesney: Mm-hm. Interviewer: Yeah, if you – [17:54] do, do you think that was, uh, true when, uh, uh, when the WACs came into, uh, you know, into, um, the service? Did you – was, were they offered the same kind or do you think that the courtesies were, uh, offered you because you were a nurse and, and perhaps held in a different esteem? Florence McChesney: Well, being in the air corps, anywhere we went, as far as the WACs were concerned, they had very nice quarters in the South Pacific, and the – we were very friendly with them because, uh, and I think, uh, the same thing with the men there, the ones I knew anyhow, all had, uh, good relationships. Interviewer: [18:37] Now, we’ll – now, let’s see. Now, you actually – then your, your, uh, your second tour of duty terminated in 19… Florence McChesney: Forty-nine. Interviewer: Forty-nine. Okay. [18:46] Then is that when you, uh, uh, uh, began your, uh university experience? Did – was that part of the GI Bill or were, uh, did you… Florence McChesney: No. Before I went into the, uh, my, uh, GI Bill, I went to the visiting nursing and, uh, I worked a couple years and then I went to Pitt under the GI Bill, yes. Interviewer: Uh-huh. [19:11] And you got your, you got your bachelor’s degree? Florence McChesney: I got my bachelor’s. Then I went back… Interviewer: [19:17] What was that in? What was the, um, what did you get your – Florence McChesney: Nursing administration. And then I went back in and I got my master’s degree, but part of that I had to pay on my own because I was, uh… Interviewer: You had already exhausted your… Florence McChesney: I, uh, dropped out and went back later and finished up. Interviewer: [19:36] Oh, was that after the GI Bill was in effect then? Is that how – or did you exhaust your benefits, your educational benefits? Florence McChesney: I can’t recall but part of it I know I had to pay part of that. Interviewer: [19:48] When, uh, when – to get back to the, um, uh, to the service, what – did you, did you, did you feel that any part of it was, uh, was difficult or required more adjustment, you know, whether like the uniform or living with others or the regulations or the, the restriction, you know, of movement? Did you, did you find any part of it… Florence McChesney: I didn’t have any trouble in the service. I, I first of all, I think I, I was a pretty good nurse. And I didn’t have any trouble in the service. And, um, I made some very good friends that I’m still – we see each other – some of the pilots and some of the nurses. I see’m, we write to quite often. And, uh, one thing I forgot to tell ya but I wanna tell ya this – I was one of the first nurses to go to Okinawa to pick up the injured patients there. When we landed in Okinawa, we, uh, right away there was a raid, and we had to go into a shelter. When I picked up the patients to take them back home, I had a bunch of candy that the Red Cross gave me, and of course, we had hard-boiled eggs and some other stuff. I don’t recall that, but those men were so glad to get that hard candy that they – I didn’t have a thing left when I landed in, uh, back home. Interviewer: Back in the States? Florence McChesney: Yeah. Interviewer: [21:19] Then, did, did you get any battle stars? You mentioned Okinawa, that apparently was still a, um, a battle zone. Did you get any battle stars when…? Florence McChesney: Well, I got the, uh… Interviewer: Go ahead. Florence McChesney: I can’t recall, but I know I got somethin’ from the air corps. You know, when you flew twel-, you had to fly 12 hours and you got a medal for flying for overseas. And then I also got several ribbons but I don’t remember what they were. Interviewer: Okay. Well, let’s go back to the GI Bill. Now, you mentioned you did use the educational part of the GI Bill. [21:58] Did you use any of the other services that were available under the, uh, uh, that were covered under the GI Bill? Florence McChesney: I… Interviewer: Like housing or… Florence McChesney: I might have used the GI Bill when I first bought my ho-, uh, my first home, and I went through the GI Bill for that. Interviewer: Okay. Now, uh, let’s see. Now, you came – now, actually your second tour of duty was completed in, um, terminated in 1949, and you did mention you, you worked with the Visiting Nurse Association and you mentioned also going to the University of Pittsburgh for your, for your, uh, baccalaureate and your master’s degree. [22:41] Uh, what, uh what’s followed subsequent? Florence McChesney: I went to the veteran’s hospital at Leech Farm here in Pittsburgh, and I worked there for 20 years in the psychiatric hospital. And I be-, wa-, I was first supervisor of a building, and then later we changed over and we became clinical specialists, all the ones that had their master’s degree were entitled to be clinical specialists, and that’s – [we didn’t have supervisors 23:13]. Interviewer: [23:13] And, and what’s, what was, what was involved in your clinical specialist, uh, work? Florence McChesney: In the psychiatric hospital, it’s a little different than the general hospitals in the fact that you did, um, you interviewed patients, you did, uh, one-to-one with them. You had individual therapy. You had group therapy with patients. You were responsible – instead of being called a supervisor, you took charge just like a supervisor would of a dif-, of a building. Interviewer: [23:49] Did, uh, and you – did your, um, your hosp-, your work at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital – it, you, and you retired from the Veteran’s Administration Hospital? You remained there until your retirement? Florence McChesney: Yes. Yes, I retired from – my mother was ill, and I had to retire because I had – wanted to stay… Interviewer: [audio cut off 24:09] 1974. Did you experience any, any, um, conflict or, or losses, you know, leaving the nursing field or did, or did you do any, any – did you, did you continue in any aspect? Florence McChesney: Well, since my mother was sick and I wanted to spend some time with her. I really didn’t wanna leave, but I did want to spend time with my mother. I did have, uh, ambivalent feeling about quittin’, but today I’m glad I did because I understand there’s so many changes and all up at the veteran’s hospital. I still keep in touch with them and we get to – [phone ringing] we have – they have a reunion once a year for all the retirees, so I see [phone ringing] [see many of’m then 24:54]. Interviewer: Now, the only question I think that remains – we know you’re a very active member with the Pittsburgh Unit Women’s Overseas Service League. [25:04] Just what does it mean being a member of the Women’s Overseas Service League? Florence McChesney: First of all, when I was approached to join the Women’s Overseas Service League, I was still working at, uh, Leech Farm Hospital, and I did not want to get involved. They were havin’ a special meeting [coughing] – excuse me. [throat clearing] with Dr. Pat Smith bein’ a guest there, so I decided I would go to this meeting, and it was such a nice group of people there I joined. And, uh [throat clearing], I am an active worker. I like to keep busy, so I do get involved with whatever’s goin’ on, but the one thing is, the ladies in Pittsburgh are very good workers, and I enjoy going to the meetings. Interviewer: Well, we know that you have been an officer of the unit in, in, in different capacities and also chairman of some of the, uh, committees. [26:06] Do you want to, uh, do you want to make any reference to, uh, some of the nature of those activities? Florence McChesney: Well, I was president for two years, and I’m now on the, uh, I’m the service chairman, and I visit all the sick people right now, and I also see the – send birthday cards to all the members. And not – one other thing I do is I go to the Aspinwall VA Hospital because we give a birthday gift to all the female patients there on their birthday, so I have to check this out quite often, and I present them either with a gown or a sweater or somethin’ that they might need on their birthday. Interviewer: Well, uh, Florence, this has really been very interesting. I just hope that all this was recorded, that, that we had, um, you know, talked about during this period of time, and thank you very, very much. /tl